SCDC calls for increased community participation as part of Community Wealth Building Bill
/This article was featured in the SCDC Weekly - 28th May 2025
SCDC has submitted its response to the Economy and Fair Work Committee's consultation on the Community Wealth Building (Scotland) Bill, currently making its way through parliament.
In our response, we have set out our support for the Bill as a means to ensure community wealth building (CWB) is consistent across Scotland, along with our concern that the lack of meaningful community participation contained in the Bill means only high capacity, well-resourced groups will be able to take advantage of CWB.
We argue that the Bill needs to go beyond a requirement for local authorities to “consult” on the development of CWB action plans, and instead specify that local community organisations addressing inequality and promoting equality should be involved in the preparation of these plans.
We would also like to see the priorities and actions within existing community plans (such as community action plans or local place plans) effectively linked into CWB action plans.
A key missing ingredient is support or capacity building, and resources to enable this. For communities, especially the most disadvantaged, that means support to allow them to see the benefits of CWB. For public sector organisations, that means ensuring they're able to deliver CWB in ways that address inequalities and promote equality.
More broadly, we echo other organisations who have expressed that CWB should be about more than just economic growth, and should include social, cultural and environmental wealth.
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